The Worst Week of My Life
by Olywood
Summary: After a six month engagement, Naruto and Hinata's big day is only seven days away, precisely the time when things absolutely cannot go wrong… but do.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me, otherwise Minato and Kushina would still be alive and Naruto/Hinata would be canon.

**THE WORST WEEK OF MY LIFE**

PROLOGUE

IT WAS AT THE VICTORY DANCE THAT HINATA CAUGHT HIS EYE.  
He'd admired her for being able to expose herself, in front of a powerful enemy, and was prepared to sacrifice her life for him, Uzumaki Naruto. Since that day, he had wondered why Hinata had chosen that particular time to confess to him, but perhaps there was no greater thrill than telling the one you loved for the first time in a life and death situation.

The Victory Dance was held in one of the function rooms beneath the Hokage Building which during the war had been reserved for top secret strategy meetings. The large oak table that had dominated the room during the war had been removed and a light coloured wood panel floor replaced the dreary carpet that had definitely seen _better days_. At the opposite side of the room from the entrance doors, was a string quartet playing slow, western style music. Naruto noted after his entrance that there were three waiters serving champagne and another two serving canapés. As one of the champagne servers passed Naruto, he gave him a look of mild disgust. As the war had only officially finished a couple of days ago, this Victory Dance Party had been hastily thrown together at the last minute, and despite the invitation to the event stating that the dress code was 'smart/casual', Naruto had not given much thought to his attire for that evening.

For this formal celebration, Naruto had arrived in a suit (to say the least), but this suit was easily too small for the blue eyed blond and was covered in cat hairs from the stray cat that sometimes visited Naruto's apartment in search for leftovers. Underneath his jacket was a clean white shirt and a black tie, but his shoes, his shoes were _another story_. On his feet were the sandals he wore for training which prompted the look of disgust from the waiter, when the waiter looked back up at Naruto he handed him a glass of champagne and left.

The turn out for the dance had been impressive, Naruto saw some of the Rookie Nine dancing together on the dance floor and toasting to the allied victory. As he approached his friends, he spotted Hinata in a purple kimono, which was embellished with floral stitching, sat alone in the corner twiddling her fingers.

"Hey, Naruto!" Sakura called, waving her hand and gesturing for him to join her on the dance floor.

Just as Naruto started to make his way over towards Sakura, he glanced back at Hinata for a second and did something he never thought he'd do, reject an invitation from Sakura.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan!" he shouted across the dance floor, she simply shrugged and turned back to dancing with the others.

As Naruto made his way over towards the lonely Hinata, he quickly adjusted his tie, shook his jacket in a vain attempt to get some of the cat hairs off it, and tried to flatten down his wild blond hair.

When he reached Hinata he asked, "Can I have a dance?"

Immediately after asking her to dance, he could hear the voice in his head shouting at him for not being more casual, and that his out-of-the-blue dance request would probably cause Hinata to faint.

For a moment, all Hinata seemed able to do was stare at him, but not in a rude way, more in a way that she couldn't quite believe what he had just asked her.

"I—I—I—Um—" Hinata's cheeks began to visibly darken, but she used all of her might to keep herself from fainting after this perfect moment.

Naruto, being the impulsive person he was, simply took Hinata's hand whilst she was still in a confused daze and led her onto the dance floor. Hinata could feel her palms start to sweat, which made her more flustered about the situation she'd been thrown into. Naruto led Hinata over towards a reasonably quite part of the dance floor and gave her a reassuring smile. Hinata tried to smile back at him, but it looked more she was talking to a questionably crazy acquaintance, and she was simply smiling and nodding at whatever they said.

Naruto put his right hand on Hinata's hip which made her jump slightly, and he mouthed out to her above the noise, "Relax."

Hinata reluctantly (although she had waited so long for an opportunity like this to arise) put her left hand on Naruto's shoulder and they awkwardly shuffled from side to side in time with the music. Hinata still couldn't look at Naruto. She'd felt that for so long her feelings for Naruto would never be reciprocated, and this was especially the case after her fight with Pain.

Sensing that Hinata was feeling slightly uncomfortable, Naruto asked, "What's wrong, Hinata?"

Her eyes started darting over the room as she searched for words, "N—Nothing, Naruto-kun."

"Are you sure? I haven't made you feel uncomfortable?"

"N—No, I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry? I asked you to dance."

"I—I feel…"

Suddenly, the distance between the two closed in. Naruto was now closer to Hinata that he had ever been before.

"I wanted to dance with you tonight, Hinata," Naruto said with a grin as he tucked a loose strand of her violet coloured hair behind her ear.

She wanted to ask why, why of all nights, that he wanted to dance with her but words failed her.

"I've wanted to dance with you for a long time, Hinata." As the music in the background reached a decrescendo, Naruto cupped Hinata's face and kissed her. Her _first kiss_.

After their kiss, Hinata was able to find her words, "Oh—Naruto-kun."

Naruto laughed, "I'm just sorry that it took me so long to get around to doing that."

Hinata laughed too as she noticed a blush growing on Naruto's cheeks, "It was worth the wait."

And then their moment was soured. Hinata's Father took a firm hold of Naruto's arm and pulled him away from his eldest daughter.

He narrowed his eyes at Naruto as he looked at his jacket, "What the hell are you doing with my daughter, _Uzumaki?_"

Naruto had never been faced by the angry Father of a girl he liked before, and decided that playing innocent might help to get him out of trouble, "I was just dancing with your daughter, Hiashi-san."

Hiashi's eyes flared up with rage, he grabbed Naruto's jacket and pushed him up against a wall, "How dare you call me 'Hiashi-san'," he growled.

Thankfully, Hinata's mother, Mayu, appeared, "Hiashi, be nice."

"How can I be nice? This ruffian was dancing with our daughter."

"Hinata isn't a little girl anymore, Hiashi. She's a grown woman now and you can't suddenly become so protective towards her," Mayu said calmly.

"_Fine_," Hiashi said through gritted teeth, "I'll forget about this, but I don't want my daughter involved with you anymore, Uzumaki."

Just as Hinata's parents started walking away from a slightly confused Naruto, he asked, "Hyuga-san, can I marry your daughter?"

Hiashi spun around so quickly that he nearly knocked his wife over, "What?" they both asked in unison.

"I'd like to marry Hinata," Naruto replied coolly.

"I thought I told you, you are no longer to be _associated_ with my eldest daughter."

"Now, Hiashi, Naruto-kun may not have been the gentleman you wished for Hinata to marry, but he has turned out into a fine young man. And he's the son of the _Fourth!_ Where else in Konoha are we going to find a better husband for Hinata than the son of the greatest Hokage this village has ever seen?"

She took her husband's hand, Hiashi started rubbing his temples before making a reply, "I give you permission to marry my daughter," he said with reluctance.

Mayu squeezed her husband; Naruto bowed and said "Thank you both so much."

"I'd always hoped that Hinata would marry _Kiba_," Hiashi muttered as they walked away. Now all Naruto had to do was ask the Hyuga heiress if she would marry him.

* * *

Naruto pushed his way back through the sea of dancers, frantically trying to remember where he'd left Hinata before he'd been dragged away by her _suddenly overprotective_ Father. He still wasn't too sure about how he would go about the whole proposal thing, or that she would even say 'yes' for that matter.

He saw Hinata with Sakura, Sai, Neji, TenTen, Lee, Kiba, Shino, Ino, Shikamaru and Choji.

"Oh hey, Naruto," Sakura said.

"Um, hey. Hinata, can I borrow you for a mo?" Naruto asked with sweaty palms.

Hinata looked confused for a moment, even more so when her Mother appeared beside Naruto and started pointing (not so subtly) at Naruto and then at her wedding ring.

"Um, sure," she answered and followed Naruto back to the spot where they had shared their first kiss.

"So, um, hey…" Naruto started.

"There's something I'd like to ask you, Hyuga Hinata."

"What is it, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto got down on one knee, just like in all the cheesy romance novels Hinata had read and fantasised about being in this exact situation some day, "Hinata, will you marry me?"

Hinata gasped and brought her hand to her face, "I don't have a ring or anything, but I'll get you the prettiest ring in the world for the prettiest girl in the world."

"Oh, Naruto-kun," Hinata started to cry, "I've waited so long, I—I."

Naruto stood up, "So is that a yes then?"

Hinata wiped away some her tears, "Yes!"

Six months later, Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Hinata were due to be wed, but the seven days leading up to the wedding could only be described as the worst week of their lives.

* * *

**A/N:** So I've been wanting to write a Naruto multi-part for a while now, and since 'The Konoha Detective Agency' turned out to be such a flop, I decided to have a shot at writing for a pairing and not having a story line as complicated xD I've tried to keep this in canon-verse and hopefully I have. I named Hinata's mother 'Mayu' because the etymology of her name reflects how she was characterised in the anime (Shippuden 166.) MOTIVATE ME TO WRITE MOAR~


	2. CHAPTER ONE: SUNDAY

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Naruto.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed 'The Worst Week of My Life' so far! It means a lot to be getting such great feedback after the first instalment of this multi-part.

CHAPTER ONE: SUNDAY

Although Naruto wasn't _technically_ supposed to be sleeping in the same bed as his fiancée, Hyuga Hinata, there was nothing the bride-to-be's Father could throw at Naruto that would stop him from sneaking into the Hyuga clan compound and snuggling up in bed with Hinata.

He liked watching Hinata smile in her sleep. Occasionally she would mumble his name and she would play with her lips, which in turn, made Naruto smile too. Some of her long violet hair fell across her pale face; Naruto couldn't resist the urge to push it aside so that he could marvel at her beautiful face—even if it woke her up.

Her eyes opened slowly, but she always smiled when she woke up and saw Naruto beside her—even if they hadn't done 'it' yet.

"Morning," Naruto said quietly with a kiss, not wanting to wake up Hinata's Father who would be furious to find him in bed with his _unmarried_ daughter.

"Morning, Naruto-kun," she replied. It seemed that Hinata had gotten so used to seeing Naruto this close that she no longer fainted upon his invasion of her personal space.

She pushed herself up so that her back was now resting against the headboard of her bed. Her bedroom was white, the colour associated with purity, and although it seemed small, to Naruto it was very spacious. A light lilac covered the walls, and above her bed was a framed tulip that Hinata had pressed when she was going through that phase. All of her shoes were neatly lined up by her dressing table, which was made from oak, and upon this dressing table was a crystal vase that had been given to her as an engagement present. Beside the vase was a framed photograph of Team Eight, taken shortly after their formation. Next to her dressing table was a tall, antique wardrobe—also made from oak— where all of Hinata's clothes were carefully hung, including her wedding dress which Naruto had yet to see.

Naruto held Hinata tightly as they both looked out of the window at the opposite side of the room that overlooked the Hyuga gardens; he kissed her again softly and said, "I better get going. I'm meeting with Kakashi-sensei to collect the ring."

He also didn't mention that he was shit scared that her Father might come into Hinata's room and explode with rage at seeing him in bed with his daughter.

* * *

Since their engagement had happened so quickly, Naruto had been unable to give an engagement ring to Hinata, something that Hiashi was not best pleased with. Naruto had looked at so many different engagement rings that he was pretty sure at one point he wanted to say "Does any of this matter? All that matters is that I love Hinata." Did he want a diamond engagement ring? Did he want one with a pearl? Did he want one with a piece of turquoise in to symbolise Hinata's birth month? Luckily, before Naruto's head exploded from all the different variations of engagement rings he could buy; he was looking for something in his apartment and came across a small wooden box that had intricately carved flowers on. Naturally, he opened it.

Inside the box was a wedding photograph of his parents and underneath the picture, that almost moved Naruto to tears, was the most perfect ring Naruto had ever seen (bearing in mind at this point he'd seen hundreds that all seemed to look the same.) It was made of yellow gold (Naruto had learned this term after countless jewellers had corrected him by stating that saying 'gold' alone was simply not good enough) and had a pea-sized ruby embedded into the metal. He looked again at the picture of his parents, a tear dropped onto it; his Father must've chosen a ruby ring to match his Mother's vibrant hair colour.

Despite the supposed perfection of this ring, it would be too big for Hinata as Kakashi had informed Naruto that Minato had gotten the ring re-sized during Kushina's gruelling ten month pregnancy whilst bearing Naruto.

Naruto arrived at the jewellers where Kakashi had agreed to meet with him and give him the newly sized ring. The wedding was scheduled to be held on Saturday 28th July, by which time the rainy season would be at an end, but it would still be increasingly warm and humid. As Konoha was located about 100 miles away from the coastline of the Land of Fire, very few typhoons ever managed to reach the Hidden Village in August and September when the season makes its peak. On this day, Sunday 22nd July, a high pressure system was sitting comfortably over the Hidden Village bringing clear skies and sunshine.

Naruto looked down the street, trying to scan through the other shoppers to see if his former teacher was amongst them. He was not. Naruto rested his head against the stone wall of the jewellers, as he sighed he looked up at the sky and noticed some high altitude clouds forming.

"Great," he muttered. A low pressure system was on its way. Warm air from the land was being pushed towards the colder air of the ocean and a front was going to be formed off the coast of the Fire Country. Normally Naruto wouldn't care whether it was going to rain or not but there was a _teeny tiny_ problem, his wedding was going to be held outdoors. Unless his guests fancied standing around in the mud, the wedding was either going to be postponed or it would be moved indoors, either of these changes were things Naruto was not willing to compromise on.

After what seemed like hours, Naruto felt the hand of his former tutor on his shoulder, "Sorry I'm late."

"Where the hell were you?" Naruto asked impatiently.

Kakashi scratched his head and laughed quietly, "Sorry, I—er, lost track of time."

Naruto rolled his eyes and held out his hand, "Whatever. Can I have the ring?"

After a couple of minutes of searching through practically every pocket on Kakashi's flak jacket and his trousers, Kakashi said, "I haven't got it."

"You've lost it?"

"Well… not _exactly_."

"Then where is it?"

"Lost of the road of life?" Kakashi joked; Naruto unfortunately did not appreciate his humour in this situation.

"If this is some sort of prank, Kakashi-sensei, it's not funny," Naruto said in an oddly serious tone.

"Why did you give the ring to me any way? I'm not marrying Hinata—"

"I was busy Kakashi-sensei, you know that. Hinata's Father wants everything to be perfect and he's going to go _batshit_ when he hears that I've lost the ring!"

"Look, we'll go back to my place and look for it there," Kakashi called as he started walking down the street to his apartment.

"Okay," Naruto called back, silently praying to whatever God was watching over him that he would be able to find the ring at Kakashi's with ease.

* * *

Kakashi's apartment was just off the main road that ran straight through Konoha. The Hatake clan compound was just outside of the main residential area, but was located on the same half of the village as the Aburame, Uchiha, Hyuga and Uzumaki households.

Kakashi opened the door to his ground floor apartment, a place which Naruto had only been able to visit a handful of times. Compared with Naruto's apartment, it was surprisingly tidy. Although it was smaller than the tastes he had acquired after sneaking into the Hyuga clan compound, there were no clothes left strewn across the floor (which was a frequent sight in Naruto's apartment) or dirty cooking utensils left piling up in the sink. He took off his shoes and gestured for Naruto to do the same.

"I'll look for it in my room. You stay down here and look," Kakashi said as he ascended a narrow wooden staircase.

Naruto slumped down on Kakashi's old brown couch, his body sank into its comfortable cushions, "Okay," he called back.

Naruto could hear Kakashi walking around upstairs in his bedroom; he started looking for the ring underneath the cushions of the couch. Nothing. He looked in the cupboards in the kitchen. Still nothing. Naruto called up the stairs to Kakashi, "Found it yet?"

"No!" He called back, "Keeping looking!"

After two hours of tearing apart Kakashi's place, neither of them were able to find the ring in question. If Hiashi got wind of this, Naruto would be dead. The two ninja collapsed into a heap on Kakashi's couch.

"I can't believe we couldn't find it," Kakashi said.

Naruto ran his fingers through his hair, "What am I gonna do?"

Kakashi gently pushed Naruto aside and made his way over towards the kitchen. He looked in the biggest cupboard and then in the fridge and asked, "Stay for dinner?"

"Nah," Naruto's stomach growled slightly, "I'd better go and see Hinata."

As Naruto put his hand on the door handle of the front door, Kakashi called, "We'll find it, Naruto."

* * *

When Naruto knocked on Hinata's door, a feeling in his gut rose up and made it twist. He felt awful, how could he tell her that seven days before their wedding day he had already managed to lose the ring.

Luckily for Naruto, it was Hinata who answered the door—not Hiashi, "Oh, good evening, Naruto-kun."

"Hey," Naruto said glumly as he took off his shoes in the hallway.

"What's wrong?" Hinata asked as she put her hand into Naruto's.

"I met with Kakashi to pick up the ring today."

"Really? That's great."

"One problem though…He can't find it."

Hinata gave Naruto a reassuring smile, "The ring doesn't matter, all that matters is that we love each other and we're getting married on Saturday."

"I guess you're right," Naruto kissed her and all his problems from the day seemed to disappear.

Suddenly, Hiashi appeared, "You've lost my daughter's ring?"

"I—I, er…" Naruto stammered.

"Spit it our, boy," he growled.

"Father, please," Hinata pleaded.

"Stay out of this, Hinata," her Father answered back.

"I haven't lost the ring, more like I just can't find it…"

"Is this some joke to you? Do you have any idea how important this wedding is for Hinata?"

Naruto stood up for himself, "Of course I do! I know that she loves me and that I love her!"

A knock on the door interrupted this heated exchange, Hinata opened the door to a red-faced (well, what you could see with his mask on) Kakashi, "I've—found—it," he panted.

He handed the black velvet box to Naruto, "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said.

Hiashi folded his arms across his chest, not willing to apologise to Naruto, "You better leave now, Uzumaki."

As Naruto walked home from the Hyuga clan compound, he prayed that no more misfortunes would fall upon himself or Hinata. Although, little did they know that Sunday was only the beginning of the worst week of their lives.


	3. CHAPTER TWO: MONDAY

Naruto does not belong to me.

Thanks to everyone who has left a review so far!

CHAPTER TWO: MONDAY [name then verb]

Naruto awoke on Monday morning with aching limbs, nothing was new there. After the fiasco of losing the ring the day before, he wanted the remaining days leading up to the wedding to be as peaceful as possible. However, today, he and Hinata were to meet with the Fire Country Daimyo for cake and tea. As he pulled himself away from the comfort of his bed, he heard the stray cat that sometimes visited his apartment calling for him.

He put on an old t-shirt that was long enough to cover over his blue boxer shorts that he liked to sleep in, and made his way over to the small window in his bedroom, opened it to allow his furry friend in. The cat jumped down from the window, stretched and then jumped up onto Naruto's bed. He started to roll around in Naruto's bed sheets and began purring before urinating on the sheets.

"Shit!" Naruto shouted a shade too loudly (bearing in mind that his bedroom window was open and the kids were out walking to school) as he picked up the cat and took him to the front door and let him out. "Surely this could be the only bad thing to happen to me today," Naruto thought as he gathered up the sheets and dumped them in his laundry hamper.

* * *

He was meeting with the Daimyo and Hinata's family for tea and cakes in the Hokage Building at noon. He hadn't met the Daimyo before; he had met his _wife_ though. She was one of Team Seven's first clients, Naruto could remember fondly how many hours they'd wasted looking for her cat that clearly did _not_ reciprocate her affections. When Naruto left his apartment, the rain was only light, so he hadn't thought to bring an umbrella—or rain coat. He decided to walk through the main shopping district of the Hidden Village. He loved market day. He could remember as a child looking at all the different products on sale and marvelling at them—but all he could ever do was window shop.

When he arrived at the Hokage Building, he was greeted by one of the in-house Chuunin and was told to go to the meeting room. He was escorted through the narrow hallways of the building with a Chuunin, who opened the door for Naruto and introduced him to the Daimyo, "Uzumaki Naruto-san," he said simply and left.

After the Chuunin had left his side, he wasn't sure of the proper etiquette that should be used in this particular situation. Should he bow before such an important figure? Shake his hand? Or simply do nothing at all? He could feel a piercing gaze coming from Hinata's Father and under the circumstances went with the most formal approach—a small bow of the head.

The Daimyo simply laughed, stood up and extended at hand towards Naruto, "Nice to meet you, Uzumaki-san."

Naruto smiled back at him feebly and sat down with the rest of the party as one of the Daimyo's assistants poured out some Green Tea. A deathly silence lingered in the room as they sipped their tea. The Daimyo, sensing tension amongst his guests, (in particular between Naruto and Hiashi) said in possibly the most carefree way possible, "Not long until the big day, is it now?"

Naruto (who was mid-way through a sip of his tea) put down his cup and replied, "No, sir. No it is not."

"No need to be so formal here, Naruto-kun," the Daimyo said with a smile.

As the rain outside began to pick up, the Daimyo began slicing an untouched cake that laid on a sliver cake stand in the middle of the table. His guests remained silent, they either had nothing to talk about with the man who had been protected by so many ninja during the war, or they were simply stunned by his nonchalant demeanour. He put a sliver of the cake onto a white china plate and passed it to Hinata.

Unsure of how to proceed in this situation, she delicately picked up her silver dessert fork, and broke away some of the white icing, "Mmm," she said quietly with a smile.

"Do you like it?" the Daimyo asked. Hinata nodded.

He then proceeded to cut pieces of the cake for the rest of his guests when something happened to Hinata. She started to cough violently, Naruto rushed over to his fiancée to check if she was alright.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he hit her back to get the rest of the cake out of her system.

"Hinata, you are embarrassing me," Hiashi said through gritted teeth.

"Hiashi, please," Mayu pleaded calmly as Hinata continued to struggle for air.

"What's in the cake?" Naruto asked after Hinata's outburst.

"Eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla essence, marzipan—" the Daiymo replied.

"O my God! Hinata's allergic to almonds!" Mayu cried.

Naruto looked out of the window, it was still raining pretty heavily but after all of the horror stories Sakura had told him about allergic reactions, he knew that he would have to get Hinata to the hospital for treatment—and fast.

* * *

Naruto scooped up Hinata into his arms and was now charging through the village, straight to Konoha Hospital. The air was thick, grey and humid and the rain came down mercilessly. After he passed the first junction, he decided to slow down as the rain had compromised the state of the paths, and a fall could only cause further injury to Hinata. Hinata had fallen asleep after their quick exit from the Hokage Building; a loud rumble of thunder from the angry sky above suddenly roused her.

"N—Naruto-kun?" she asked, her eyes and body not quite registering where she was and what had happened to her.

They'd just passed the second junction, the hospital would be on their next right, "It's okay, Hinata. I'm taking you to the hospital," he answered, and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"W—W—Why?" she asked.

"You're having an allergic reaction," Naruto bit his lip and started to run faster than ever, "And if I don't get you to the hospital soon, I don't know what'll happen…"

He looked down at Hinata again in his arms, she'd fallen unconscious. He prayed that either Sakura-chan or Tsunade-baa-chan were going to be on duty.

* * *

Naruto ran into the Hospital foyer sopping wet, with an equally wet Hinata in his arms. Just his luck, Sakura was in the foyer behind the main desk filling out some paperwork. She rushed over to them immediately.

"O my God!" Sakura exclaimed as Naruto laid Hinata down on one of the plastic chairs in the foyer.

"I got here as fast as I could," Naruto panted.

"What happened?" Sakura asked as she searched for a pulse and called a nurse over for assistance.

"She's had an allergic reaction. Almond I think?" Naruto replied as he helplessly watched Hinata get taken away into another room.

"What's gonna happen to her?" he asked.

"Well…Since you mentioned an allergic reaction to a nut, I think her throat has started to close up so we'll have to give her an antihistamine pill."

Naruto fell to his knees, "I can't believe this is happening to me—_us_."

Sakura offered Naruto her hand and took him to the room where Hinata was receiving treatment, "Don't worry, she'll be fine."

* * *

Naruto had stayed at Hinata's bedside until the drowsiness from her treatment kicked in. Sakura came into their room to check on her patient, she picked up her chart and looked at the heart monitor hooked up to the violet haired kunoichi.

"Her heart rate is slowing down," Sakura said as she filled in some paperwork.

"And that's good?" Naruto asked.

Sakura nodded, "We'll probably keep her in for the night though. Just to be on the safe side."

Naruto stood up and kissed Hinata's forehead, "I'll go back to the house and collect some things for her then."

Sakura put Hinata's chart back and smiled, "I'll tell her you'll be back soon if she wakes up."

* * *

Naruto had gathered a few of Hinata's belongings from her house to bring back to her at the Hospital: a change of underwear, a set of light white pyjamas to combat the night-time summer heat and various toiletries.

When he arrived back at the hospital, he noticed that all the lights were off. "The power must've been knocked out by the storm," he thought to himself as he traced his way back to Hinata's room. When he'd left Hinata, almost an hour ago, she'd still been asleep after taking the medication to control her allergy. With this in mind, Naruto knocked quietly on the door, "Hinata? Are you up?"

It was now raining so heavily outside that Naruto doubted that he would have even been able to hear her reply against the sound of the pouring rain. He decided to open the door. Clutching the bag with her belongings in he said, "Hinata?" But just as he said her name, she turned over to face him when a flash of lightning struck outside. Naturally, she screamed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hinata, it's me!" Naruto said as he tried to get Hinata to calm down.

Her face was white with fear, "D—Don't, h—hurt, me…" she cried.

Naruto placed the bag on the bedside table and put his hands on her shoulders , "It's okay, Hinata. It's me."

At first she couldn't look him in the eyes, but after a kiss she managed to regain her composure.

"Oh, Naruto-kun, I was so scared," she said quietly after the lights came back on.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Didn't Sakura-chan tell you I was going back to your's to get some clothes?" Hinata shook her head slightly and held Naruto tightly.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun."

"For you, I'd do anything," Naruto said with a smile.

They held each other in an embrace for several minutes before Sakura returned, "Oh," she said with slightly flushed cheeks, embarrassed that she may have walked in on their 'alone' time, "We should be able to let you go tomorrow morning."

Sakura moved over towards Hinata and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Today was just one of those days, tomorrow will be a better day."

"Thank you, Sakura-chan," Hinata said with a smile.

After Sakura left, Naruto turned off the lights in the room and snuggled up in bed beside his fiancée. He_ couldn't_—_wouldn't_ even think about leaving her alone in a hospital after what had happened today. Having faith alone that Tuesday would be a better day for them both would not be enough.

* * *

**A/N:** Apologies for not updating much recently! I hope I've got my facts right about the type of medicine used to stop (?) an allergic reaction, so correct me if I'm wrong. Inspiration has been evading me, so, um, yeah… However, it has given me some pretty good ideas for coming chapters though (I've got big plans for Friday! **:P**)


	4. CHAPTER THREE: TUESDAY

Naruto does not belong to me.

Warning: swimsuits and an obscure reference to 'The Proposal' awaits. (You know which scene I'm talking about ;D)

Go Team GB!

CHAPTER THREE: TUESDAY

"Naruto-kun, wake up," Hinata whispered.

Naruto opened his eyes slowly as light from the window filtered into the room; he rubbed his eyes, "What time is it?"

"It's 10:30AM, _lazy bones_," Sakura replied, a hand firmly planted on her hip.

"Huh?" Naruto answered back groggily.

He shifted his body and noticed that Hinata was no longer beside him in bed; she was now stood next to Sakura at the foot of the bed.

Naruto pushed himself up and rested against the headboard, "Why didn't you wake me?"

Hinata blushed slightly, "You looked so peaceful, and I didn't want to wake you."

Sakura started to tap her foot impatiently, "Come on! We've got to get going."

"Oh, yeah, we're going to the beach today," Naruto thought to himself as he got out of bed. Nothing bad could possibly happen to them during their trip to the beach, _right?_

* * *

Naruto walked slowly over to the main Village Gate after returning to his apartment to get some things for their trip: some sun-cream, some instant ramen and a few kunai and shuriken. When he arrived, he discovered that Hinata, Sakura, Lee, Tenten, Shikamaru, Ino and Sai were already ready and were waiting for him.

"What took you so long?" Ino asked.

"Sorry—Sorry," Naruto answered back.

"Shall we get going then?" Sakura asked.

The quickest way to the Fire Country coast was to head east, which was also incidentally the same route you would take to reach the Water Country. What lay between the Hidden Village and the glorious white sand coastline of the Fire Country was about 50 miles of dense deciduous forest. Naruto took the lead for the party and was the first to jump up into a nearby tree and begin the long journey to the beach.

In this convoy, the boys stayed a few paces ahead whilst the girls stayed a few paces behind and talked about the latest hearsay in the village. Hinata didn't care much for gossip; she preferred to approach people with an open mind and practised the idea that you should never judge a book by its cover. It appeared though, that Sakura and Ino could _not_ get enough of Konoha gossip.

"What?" Sakura said with somewhat disbelief after Ino had imparted some particularly scandalous gossip.

"I know, but she seemed the right sort…" Ino said as she glanced over at Hinata, who appeared to be on a totally different planet to herself and Sakura.

Ino arched an eyebrow and asked Hinata, "What's the most scandalous gossip you've ever heard before, Hinata-chan?"

"I—I—Um," Hinata stuttered.

"I don't think Hinata cares much for gossip, Ino-pig," Sakura said, almost rolling her eyes.

"I don't either!" Tenten called, who was next to Hinata.

After this disappointing outburst for both Sakura and Ino, they returned to quietly gossiping amongst themselves whilst Hinata and Tenten engaged in more intellectually challenging conversation.

Ahead of the girls were the boys, who were deeply engrossed in a conversation about how many drunk girls they'd gotten off with at some kooky house party. Apparently, Sai held the record.

"I don't know what it is about me," Sai said, almost modestly.

"They must think you look _like_ Sasuke," Naruto said almost spitefully.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "Girls are _so_ troublesome."

"Aww! Is someone _jealous_?" Naruto asked in a mockingly tone.

Shikamaru frowned as if Naruto had deeply insulted him, "Of course not!"

"So who are you taking to Naruto-kun's wedding then?" Lee asked.

Shikamaru paused for a moment as he contemplated his answer, "I was thinking of asking Ino…" Naruto immediately made an "ooooohh" sound.

Shikamaru shot a glare at Naruto, "Only as a friend," he added.

"What about you, Sai-kun?" Lee asked.

Sai looked at Naruto and then back at Lee, "I was thinking of asking Sakura."

"WHAT?!" Naruto and Lee both exclaimed.

Shikamaru punched his arm to remind him that Sakura and his fiancée were only a few metres behind them.

"_What?_" Naruto asked again, more quietly.

"I am asking Sakura to your wedding," Sai replied, enunciating his words as if he were speaking to an idiot.

Naruto turned his head around to face the girls, waved at them before returning to face Sai, "You better not do anything _weird_ to her."

"So who are you thinking of asking, Bushy Brows?" Naruto asked Lee.

Lee blushed, "Are you asking Tenten?" Naruto asked.

Lee bit his lower lip, "I—_Er_—I don't know," Lee answered quietly.

"What are you worried about Bushy Brows? I thought you _liked_ her," Naruto added.

"I do! She's a great friend, but I—"

"Go and ask her!"

Buckling under the pressure, Lee said, "Okay, I'll go and ask her now." He slowed down and joined the girls group only to hear a snippet of conversation between Ino and Sakura.

"She didn't!" Sakura exclaimed.

Lee was now in-between Hinata and Tenten, he looked sheepishly at Tenten, "What's wrong, Lee?" Tenten asked.

"Nothing," he replied with a smile.

* * *

A little after 12:30PM, the travelling party arrived at the Fire County coast. The smell of the salt water from the ocean overwhelmed Naruto, who powered on ahead of his friends like an over-excited child who was going to the beach for the very first time.

"Naruto! Wait for us!" Sakura called as she watched helplessly as Naruto stripped off into his swimwear and ran off into the water.

Ino rolled her eyes, "I can't believe you're marrying _him_."

Hinata laughed quietly, "That's what I love about him."

The remaining shinobi (minus Naruto) walked carefully down a sand hill, dodging various large rocks that obstructed the clear path down before reaching the flat, white sand of the beach. The sky was a delightful pale blue, with a few wispy clouds in the distance, but otherwise, it was an extremely pleasant summer's day. The water near the edge of the beach was a clear blue colour, the shades getting deeper as the distance from the beach grew.

After settling on the beach and putting up a couple of beach umbrellas, the girls took off their ninja clothes to reveal their swimsuits beneath. Sakura and Ino had both donned two-pieces, Sakura's in a flirty red colour and Ino's in an ocean blue colour. Hinata felt almost relieved when she saw Tenten had also opted for a one-piece, in a pure white colour and Hinata had chosen a deep violet.

Hinata pulled out several beach towels from her travelling bag, handing one to each of the girls and then Lee asked, "May I have one, Hinata-san?"

After looking around in her bag to if she'd brought a fifth beach towel, she said, "I'm sorry, Lee-kun. I only brought four with me."

"Oh," Lee said as if all this youthful enthusiasm had been zapped out of him.

"Aren't you going out in the water with the rest of the boys, Lee-san?" Sakura asked as she rubbed some sun-tan lotion on her legs.

"I will, thank you Sakura-san," he answered with a smile as he ran off towards the water.

Meanwhile, in the water, the boys had still not gotten over Sai's supposed lechery. As they swam a few metres away from the shallow water, Naruto asked, "What did she say then, Bushy Brows?"

Lee let the waves carry him for a moment before answering, "Tenten said Neji had already asked her."

"Awww! Well that sucks!" Naruto said.

"Yeah," Lee added.

"Plenty of girls out there, eh?" Naruto said, he thought to himself that he was becoming more like Ero-sennin every day.

* * *

After several hours of frolicking around in the water and on the sand, the shinobi packed away their stuff and made their way to a nearby Hot Springs resort.

"I've heard that this place is really good," Sakura said to Ino as they rolled up the beach towels.

"Supposedly if you soak in one of the baths, you'll find your true love," Ino added, quickly glancing over at Tenten.

"I do have better things to do than find myself a boyfriend, thank you very much," Tenten said almost angrily.

"Tenten-chan, I don't think she meant it like _that_," Hinata said to Tenten.

The Hot Springs was just on the outskirts of the beach; it was quite secluded and peaceful with a wonderfully traditional looking interior. As expected, there were two separate baths, one for the boys and one for the girls.

"Hinata! Your back!" Sakura exclaimed as she looked over at her after putting her towel on.

"What's wrong, Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked.

Sakura gently touched Hinata's back and winced, "Your back has got sunburnt."

"Ouch," Ino added as she tied up her long blonde hair, "That looks pretty bad."

"I will sit this one out," Hinata said with a hint of sadness as she left the bathing area.

As she walked back to the girls' changing room, she bumped into Naruto. As she fell down onto him, her towel dropped and when she looked down at her fiancé, she saw that he too was _completely naked_. Her face was hotter than it had ever felt before, and Naruto looked to be in a similar condition.

"S—S—Sorry, N—Naruto-kun," she stuttered as she tried to push herself up.

"N—N—No, I wasn't lookin' where I was going," Naruto said as he tried to look away as she put her towel back on.

When Naruto had regained some composure (and covered himself up) he asked, "Why aren't you with the rest of the girls?"

"I got sunburnt," she said quietly as she moved some of her long hair that tumbled down her back to reveal the patch of red skin.

Naruto winced, "Ouch."

"Do you want me to fetch you some lotion?"

"Yes," Hinata smiled, "I'd really appreciate it, Naruto-kun."

* * *

Naruto disappeared off back to the boys' changing rooms, rummaging around in his bag looking for some after-sun, when just as he was about to leave, he saw Lee stood by the panelled sliding door that led to the men's baths.

"Aren't you coming in, Naruto-kun?" Lee asked.

"Nah," Naruto replied, anxious to give the after-sun to his fiancée, "Hinata got sunburnt."

"Oh, well I hope she's okay."

"Me too," Naruto said as she made his way back to Hinata.

Hinata sat on a wooden bench, thinking about all the things that had happened since their engagement, but her thoughts kept coming back to her naked collision with her soon-to-be husband. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't felt _something_ during their naked encounter, but she had always been adamant that she would lose her virginity on her wedding night. Her heart began to beat harder—_faster_. _Where are you Naruto?_

"I've found some," Naruto said, stirring Hinata from her somewhat sexual reverie.

Somewhat startled, she replied, "Oh, thank you, Naruto-kun."

They looked at each other for a moment, before Hinata turned around, pushing her hair aside, "Could you do my back please?"

Naruto could feel his face burn up as Hinata undid the tie of her halter top swimsuit, "O—Of course."

Hinata felt the cooling relief as Naruto rubbed the after-sun lotion on her back, after he had finished he backed away quickly, "I better get back to the guys."

"Okay, thank you, Naruto-kun," Hinata said as re-tied the strings on her swimsuit.

"Four days," Naruto thought to himself, "Four more days and I'll be able to sleep next to and wake up next to Hinata for the rest of my life."

* * *

**A/N:** This is probably a bit late, but I've started thinking about finding a beta-reader for this story. I didn't really think about finding one when I started planning this out, but as the story grows longer, I become _more_ conscious of my mistakes and I really want this story to be well-received. I'm hoping to get this finished before I get my exam results (16th August, absolutely terrified btw), so if anyone out there is interested in being a beta-reader, send me a message! I hope you are all well, my wonderful readers~


	5. CHAPTER FOUR: WEDNESDAY

Usual disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.  
I'd like to thank oceanmoon for being the beta-reader for this chapter!

CHAPTER FOUR: WEDNESDAY

It was midday on Wednesday, and a few short hours ago; Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Lee, Ino, Sai, Shikamaru and Tenten, had arrived back in Konoha after their overnight stay at the Hot Springs resort. Naruto sighed as he rolled over in the grass in a park that was near his house. The heat was becoming more intense, and there was nothing more in the world that Naruto wanted than a nice, cool breeze to pass by. _Except Hinata_. He _wanted_ her.

His thoughts went back to a flashback; they had just arrived back in the Hidden Village when Kiba had asked for a 'favour'.

"_Aww, come on Naruto!" Kiba pleaded._

"_I don't know, Kiba. Can't you ask someone else?" Naruto asked._

"_Please! It'll just be for today and tonight," Kiba looked over at Hinata and tried to appeal to her good-willed nature, "He'll be no trouble for you, I swear."_

"_Okay, Kiba-kun," Hinata said with a smile to her team-mate._

_Kiba threw his arms around Hinata and Naruto, as he squeezed them tightly he said, "Thanks guys!"_

_Why?_ Why had they agreed to look after Akamaru until Thursday morning? Naruto knew nothing about looking after a dog, the closest thing he'd ever had to owning a pet was a small brown mouse that used to scavenge around in his house amidst all the empty cups of instant ramen.

He glanced over at Akamaru who was sprawled out on the grass beside him. So far, all seemed to be going reasonably well. Naruto rubbed his eyes just as cool breeze grazed by.

"Ahhh," he said to himself quietly.

Naruto stood up and stretched his arms, picked up the red-coloured, rope lead that was attached to Akamaru's collar and began to walk to the Hyuga clan compound.

* * *

Naruto knocked twice on the front door of the Main Branch household for the Hyuga family, Hiashi answered to door. "Oh," was all he could seem to muster.

Naruto tried to push Akamaru behind him, but it was difficult task as the dog had suddenly become restless. "Is Hinata at home?" Naruto asked, refusing to be intimidated by his soon-to-be father-in-law.

Hiashi closed to door on him and called for his daughter. "Oh, hello, Naruto-kun," she said, coming to the door barefoot in a baggy t-shirt and shorts.

"Hey, so do you fancy going on walk with us?" he tugged on the lead so that Akamaru was now beside him.

She smiled at Naruto and then knelt down beside Akamaru and ruffled his long, white fur. "I'll go and get changed."

She returned several minutes later wearing a pair of navy blue three-quarter length trousers, and a clean white v-neck t-shirt. Although it was not flashy, Naruto still thought she looked beautiful in it.

"So where do you fancy going?" Naruto asked as Hinata tied her long, violet-coloured hair up into a ponytail.

She paused for a moment, "Let's go to the river, Naruto-kun."

* * *

As they walked up the road from the Main Branch household, the events that had unfolded the previous night were discussed.

"How's your back?" Naruto asked, Akamaru's pull suddenly becoming a lot stronger.

"Much better, thank you," Hinata replied, a small blush growing on her cheeks as she remembered their naked encounter.

They walked for several minutes in absolute silence. After making a right turn near Konoha's Hot Springs, Naruto decided to break the silence. "So, um, about last night."

Hinata tried to look at Naruto, but was far too embarrassed and averted her gaze, "Um, yes?"

"I'm sorry."

Hinata looked over at her fiancé, "Why are you sorry?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head with his left hand, "I don't know. I just feel like I might have made you feel," he paused when Akamaru saw another dog and tugged the blond forward in a violent motion, "uncomfortable."

Hinata blushed again, she put her left hand over his right hand. "You didn't, Naruto-kun."

After bringing Akamaru back under control, Naruto grinned at his fiancée. "You look really beautiful today, Hinata."

"Thank you, Naruto-kun. You look very handsome," she leaned in to him and kissed him gently, "as always."

The couple then made another right turn, heading south-east to pass by the Uzumaki clan compound where Naruto resided. Along with various other wedding agreements that were to remain disclosed until the ceremony (such as what Hinata's dress would look like and their vows), Naruto had only one request, that he be able to choose the location of where the ceremony would take place. Initially, Hinata feared that the ceremony would take place in Ichiraku's, but these fears were dismissed when he said it would take place, "_in a place that is outside and is very important to me."_

After walking past Naruto's house, they came to a junction where they took a left turn and headed north on one of the main roads that ran straight though the village. After a couple of minutes, they joined up on the main road which was filled with shoppers milling around. Naruto was prepared to push his way though this swarm of shoppers in order to get across to the other side of the road, but was instead pleasantly surprised when the people began to disperse, making a clear path for himself, Hinata, and Akamaru to pass through.

Since Naruto had saved Konoha from complete annihilation after the fight with Pain, he had become something of a celebrity. People no longer held prejudices against him because his was the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi, they looked at him as the embodiment of peace—and _hope_.

With his newly discovered celebrity status, he smiled and waved as the shoppers moved aside for their hero, "Thank you!"

They continued walking north until they reached the Akimichi clan compound, where they made a right turn and walked up the road that would eventually lead them to the river. Soon enough, after passing the Konoha Police department, the couple reached the river and Naruto foolishly let Akamaru off his lead. As Akamaru ran off into a nearby cluster of tress, Hinata reached over to hold her fiancé's hand.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but I've got to go home," she said.

"Oh, okay," Naruto replied as he tried to find Akamaru.

"Will you two be okay?" she asked, genuinely concerned if Naruto was capable of looking after her team-mate's best friend.

Naruto gave Hinata a wide smile, "We'll be just fine. Won't we, Akamaru?" Akamaru then barked to show Hinata that he too believed in Naruto's ability to look after him.

Hinata laughed, "Okay. I'll see you both later." Hinata walked back towards the village, and for a split moment, panic rushed over Naruto. _What the hell was he going to do?_

* * *

Naruto slumped down beside a nearby tree, "So what do _you_ fancy doing, Akamaru?"

He shook his head. What had become of him? He was talking to a dog for goodness sake! Was he expecting Akamaru to talk back to him in the Queen's English, saying that, "one would most like to go and roll around in some mud."

He tilted his head back slightly; some clouds were beginning to form. He stood up and called for Akamaru. "Akamaru!"

"Here boy!" He called again with a feeble whistle.

Still nothing, Naruto was becoming irritated, "Akamaru!"

He wandered through the rest of the clearing and came to the water's edge, and there was Akamaru, sitting comfortably in the water.

He sighed as he rolled up his trousers to his knees before wading into the water to retrieve the dog. With the lead now attached to Akamaru, he made his first attempt at trying to pull the dog out of the water.

When Naruto had finally managed to get Akamaru out of the water, he proceeded to shake the water off his fur.

"_Why?_" Naruto asked, Akamaru looking up innocently at him like he hadn't done anything wrong.

As Naruto tried to pull Akamaru away from the water, Akamaru pulled him back with greater strength.

"Come on! I wanna go home," Naruto said, but when he turned to see what Akamaru was making a fuss about, he saw a small black cat.

"Oh for the love of..." Naruto said as he rolled his eyes.

"He won't be any trouble," Naruto said, trying to impersonate Kiba.

With one swift pull, Naruto found himself falling head-first into a pile of mud, and Akamaru was wildly chasing the cat in question away.

He lay in the mud for a moment, thinking about what he had ever done to Kiba to be entrusted with this mischievous animal in his care.

"When Kiba gets back tomorrow, boy is he going to get an earful from me," Naruto thought as he pushed himself out of the mud.

He walked back over to the river, taking off his shirt in a vain attempt to try and get some of the mud off it. He scrubbed his face and soaked his hair. _Where had the dog gone now?_

He called for him again, "Akamaru!" This time, Akamaru ran straight to him and obediently sat down beside Naruto.

"You wouldn't be this _troublesome_ for _Kiba_ now, would you?" Naruto asked as he put the lead back on Akamaru. God, now he was starting to sound like _Shikamaru_.

* * *

Naruto had never felt as relieved as he did when he handed Akamaru over to Hinata. He'd told her what Akamaru had done, but instead of being surprised, she simply said, "That's what dogs do, Naruto-kun."

Perhaps they did, but surely they must be aware of when they are being a complete pain in the _arse_. Naruto looked out of the window in his bedroom, the Sun was slowly setting and hues of red and orange were mixing wonderfully in the sky.

"Three days, huh?" Three whole days for more things to go _horribly_ wrong.


End file.
